Delinda Phillips Has Cared for Seniors in Some Capacity Since She Was a Child, Tagging Along With Her Mother, WHO WORKED AS A HOME HEALTHCARE WORKER.
Phillips, 55, of Chicago, has been in the healthcare industry for the past 26 years and works as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home in Oak Lawn, and she’s woried about what the looming cuts wills patients and shear for and her career.
“As a nursing home worker, i’m worked about it, the seniors i care for (have) Medicaid,” she said. “I’m Not Going Through This Job to Get Wealthy, i’m Doing It Out of Love.”
Experts and Advocates in Illinois Say the Sweeping Medicaid Cuts APPROVED BY HOUSE COUND HAVE Devasting Effects on Low-InCome Seniors with Disabilities Living in Nursing Homes and Other Long-Term Care Facilities.
US House Republicans’ Proposed Legislative Package Cuts $ 700 Billion from the Medicaid Program and Changes Eligibility Requirements that calls for checks to check enrollee every six months rather than on a yearly bass, The Associated Press Reported. The Package Lawmakers have named the, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Will Head to the Us Senate Where It is Expective to Face Challenges.
Advocates World LESSING Funding Will Lead to A Reduced Quality of Care at Nursing Homes while Other Facilities Could Close Altogether. MANY Residents of Nursing homes are elderly, but there are also people who are in their 50s and 60s who had a Physical or Developmental Disability that Requires More Than what Can Be Provided by Home-Citra Health Care Council of Illinois.
Medicare, A Federal Insurance Program for People 65 Years or Older, Only Covers 100 Days in Nursing Homes while Medicaid, A Federal and State Program, Cost for Longer Stays in Nursing Homes, Nunziato Said.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) Speaks to the Media After the House Narrowly Passed A Bill Forwarding Donald Trump’s Agenda. The tax and spending legislation, Called the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” Act, Redirects Money to the Military and Border Security and Includes Cuts to Medicaid, Education and Other Domestic Programs.
About 70% of all the days a person spends in a nursing facility in Illinois Are Covered by Medicaidand in fiscal year 2024 that amounted to $ 3.8 Billion in Federal Dollars for Long-Term Care Facilities, Accounting to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
“Federal cuts to Medicaid will leave leave and local governments with Vast Budget Shortfalls that cannot be made up, and the director result wouln not only mean an e economic impact for communities but Also directly felt by Medicaid Currently reiding in Nursing – and Those Served Throughout The Medicaid Program, “the Department Said in a Statement.
The Bill Will Place a Moratorium on an Efform to Increase Staffing Levels at Nursing Homes, Said Gelila Selassie, An Attorney With Justice in Aging. Staffing Levels at Nursing Homes Are Important Because they They Prevent Deaths at Facilities, Said. The rule would have required an around-the-clock registered nurse and a minimum of 3.48 total nurse staffing hours per residency for day, accorting to an KFF Analysis.
Phillips, who is also a union steward for Seiu hcii, Said nursing homes are already shortstaffed. She typically cables for 13 to 15 seniors every shift, and she almost always ends up working overtime hours Because of staffing shorts. She works cuts to Medicaid Will Mean She will have an Even Higher Load of Seniors to take Care of every shift.
“I have come get a break Becausee i want to make sura everybody is cared (for) and clean before leave,” she said.
Nursing homes have already faced Financial Struggles, Nunziato Said and Pointed to the Clues of 50 Facilities in Illinois in Last Five Years. He thinks more could close.
“We have those those facilities Close, it’s not just a business, it’s not just just employs Ling their Jobs, ITIs Residents Having to Relocate the Home Have Been in Five Years,” Nunziato Said. “It ‘Putting a Strain on Families.”
Another provision in the bill limits retroactive Coverage from Three Months to One Month, Said Selassie. Applying for Medicaid Requires a Lot of Paperwork and Said Now Families Will Have a Shorter Window of Time to Gather the Necessary Documents.
“Very offen how we see People who Need Nursing Home Care Enter (A Facility), they Enter Through a Hospital Following a Really Bad or Stroke or Sometoc or Something Like That Where They They Waoulified For Nursing Hospittaliz Event, ”Selassie Said.
Sad Seye, Vice President of Independent Living at Access Living, Said They Advocate for People Living with Disabilities to be able to live independently, but many do live in nursing homes. She works the cuts cououl Affect the Level of Care they Receive.
“They May Face Neglect, Instability or Homelessness As A Result of the Cuts that Are Panding,” Seye Said.
People with disabilities who do not live in facilities will Also be affected. Less Medicaid Funding for Things Like Personal Attendants, Wheelchairs and Home Modifications Will Mean They Won’t Be ABLE to Live at Home, Said Bridget Hayman, Director of Communications for Access Living.
“Medicaid is the Payer for Disability Services, Nursing Home Services is usablely the only for a lot of these services,“ Said Susan Agrawal, Director of the Family-To-Family Health at the Arc of Illinois, an Organization that Advocates for People with Devevevevevevene Physical disabilities. “Without Medicaid, we do not have a disability system here in the United States. Medicaid is Our Disability System.”
Medicaid Cuts Will Mean the Government Will Pay for Individual at Facilities Ranging From Those Have Specializes for Development Disabilities to THOSE CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, AGRAWAL SAID. The Cuts Will Reduce Like Recreational Activities and Specialized Therapies, Said.
Samantha Alloway, Executive Director of the Arc of Illinois, Said They Fear People will have no choice to live in facilities, what the disability community wants to prevent.
“That’s a great fear that we had of this too, it will lead to more institutionalization and that is something to prevent, and our entity community tries to say as much as positionible,” she said. “Lack of Services, Less Services and Often That Can Lead to More Crisis Situations … and That Is A Great Fear, Too, for Many Families: Where Will We Go?”
Resources for Families:
The arc of illinois is hosting webinars in English and Spanish About the Medicaid Cuts. To Register, Visit bit.ly/4364AFA.
اترك تعليقاً